UDK 669.14.018.298:620.

17 ISSN 1580-2949
Review article/Pregledni ~lanek MTAEC9, 45(4)295(2011)

D. A. SKOBIR: HIGH-STRENGTH LOW-ALLOY (HSLA) STEELS

HIGH-STRENGTH LOW-ALLOY (HSLA) STEELS

VISOKOTRDNA MALOLEGIRANA (HSLA) KONSTRUKCIJSKA
JEKLA

Danijela A. Skobir
Institute of Metals and Technology, Lepi pot 11, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
danijela.skobir@imt.si

Prejem rokopisa – received: 2011-05-09; sprejem za objavo – accepted for publication: 2011-07-04

Micro-alloyed, high-strength, low-alloy (HSLA) steels are important structural materials and contain small amounts of alloying
elements, such as niobium, titanium, vanadium, and aluminium, which enhance the strength through the formation of stable
carbides, nitrides or carbonitrides and have an effect on the hardenability. Such steels contain less than 0.1 % of the alloying
additions, used individually or in combination. Yield strength increments of two or three times that of plain carbon-manganese
steel can be attained. Nowadays, also micro-alloyed cast steels have found many applications in the manufacturing of industrial
parts that used to be produced by more expensive manufacturing processes.
Keywords: high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels, micro-alloying elements, carbides, nitrides, carbonitrides, mechanical
properties

Visokotrdna malolegirana konstrukcijska jekla (HSLA) spadajo med tehni~no pomembne konstrukcijske materiale in vsebujejo
majhne koli~ine legirnih elementov, kot so niobij, titan, vanadij, aluminij, ki zaradi tvorbe stabilnih karbidov, nitridov ali
karbonitridov zvi{ajo natezno trdnost materiala in vplivajo na trdnost. Ta jekla vsebujejo manj kot 0.1 % legirnih elementov, ki
se lahko uporabljajo posamezno ali v kombinaciji, natezna trdnost pa je lahko dva do trikrat vi{ja kot pri navadnem
ogljikovo-manganovem jeklu. Danes so v uporabi tudi mikrolegirana lita jekla, ki se najve~ uporabljajo za izdelavo raznih
industrijskih delov, za kar so bili prej potrebni dragi proizvodni procesi.
Klju~ne besede: visokotrdna malolegirana jekla (HSLA), mikrolegirni elementi, karbidi, nitridi, karbonitridi, mehanske lastnosti

e) the strength increase could be obtained relatively

1 INTRODUCTION
High-strength, low-alloy (HSLA) steels, or micro-
alloyed steels, are aimed to provide better mechanical
properties and/or greater resistance to atmospheric
corrosion than conventional carbon steels. They are
designed to meet specific mechanical properties, such as
a yield strength greater than 275 MPa,1,2 rather than to
obtain a specific chemical composition. The chemical
composition of a specific HSLA steel may vary for diffe-
rent product thicknesses to meet mechanical property
requirements.
The factors that led to the initial development of
micro-alloyed steels, at least up to the late 1960s, were:3
a) materials cost savings could be obtained directly by
the application of micro-alloyed steels;
cheaply, as both niobium and vanadium, are not
readily oxidised by steel melt processing.
The development of micro-alloyed steels was not
restricted to plates; development work was already
reported for hot-rolled strip and for bar material for
reinforcement. Another significant development in the
period between 1963 and 1967 concerned hot-rolling
practices, when a process now known as "controlled
rolling" was developed.3,4 This enabled fine-grained
microstructures to be obtained in the "as-rolled"
condition, with benefits for both strength and toughness.
By allowing the hot-rolling process to occur at lower
temperatures, a finer austenite grain microstructure was
produced, which resulted in finer ferrite grain sizes after
transformation during cooling.
5

b) in-service benefits could be obtained in the
development of lighter goods;
c) the need for a higher strength line-pipe that was
easily weldable provided an expanding market for
higher-yield-strength steels;
d) the extensive use of welding as the principal
fabrication method meant that conventional ways of
increasing the strength would result in more
expensive and much less practicable welding
procedures, whilst the new micro-alloyed steels with
their generally lower carbon and alloy levels could
often be welded using existing procedures;
The above described developments in micro-alloyed
steels are summarised in Figure 1, where the various
developments are shown on a time base and compared
with external influences (modern welding methods, oil
crises, development of environmental pressures).3
Micro-alloyed steels are nowadays divided into six
2,4–5
categories:
a) Weathering steels, which contain small amounts of
alloying elements such as copper and phosphorus for
an improvement of the atmospheric corrosion resi-
stance and solid-solution strengthening.

Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 45 (2011) 4, 295–301 295

D. A. SKOBIR: HIGH-STRENGTH LOW-ALLOY (HSLA) STEELS
Figure 1: Development of HSLA steels from 1940 to 20003
Slika 1: Razvoj HSLA-jekel od leta 1940 do 20003
b) Micro-alloyed ferrite-pearlite steels with very small
(generally less than 0.1 %) additions of strong
carbide- or carbonitride-forming elements, niobium,
vanadium, and/or titanium, for precipitation strength-
ening, grain refinement, and possibly, transformation
temperature control.
c) As-rolled pearlitic steels, which may include carbon-
manganese steels with small additions of other alloy-
ing elements to enhance strength, toughness, forma-
bility and weldability.
d) Acicular ferrite (low-carbon bainite) steels are low-
carbon (less than 0.05 % C) steels with an excellent
combination of high yield strengths (as high as 690
MPa), weldability, formability and good toughness.
e) Dual-phase steels with a microstructure of martensite
inserts dispersed in ferritic matrix and with a good
combination of ductility and high tensile strength.
f) Inclusion-shape-controlled steels with improved
ductility and through-thickness toughness due to
small additions of calcium, zirconium, titanium or
rare-earth elements that change the shape of sulphide
inclusions from elongated stringers to small, dis-
persed, almost spherical globules.
The wide applications of HSLA steels include oil and
gas pipelines, heavy-duty highway and off-road vehicles,
construction and farm machinery, industrial equipment,
storage tanks, bridges, offshore structures, power-trans-
mission towers, light poles as well as building beams and
panels.
6–8
The choice of a specific high-strength steel depends
on a number of application requirements, including
thickness reduction, corrosion resistance, formability and
weldability. For many applications, the most important
factor in the selection is the favourable strength-to-
weight ratio5 of HSLA steels compared with conven-
296
tional low-carbon steels. This characteristic of HSLA
steels has led to their increased use in automobile com-
ponents.
2 STRENGTHENING MECHANISMS
The micro-alloyed steels used nowadays are obtained
by means of a suitable combination of chemical com-
position and thermo-mechanical treatment parameters,
with the aim to achieve the proper balance between
strength, toughness, ductility and formability. These
properties depend upon microstructural features, while
weldability is generally accepted as being composition
dependent.
The yield strength of steel can be increased by one or
more of several strengthening mechanisms. These
include:2,3,5,9,10
a) Dislocation strengthening: the resistance to dislo-
cation movement due to the obstacles presented to
other dislocations. The limitations of this mechanism
are due to the saturation of the structure with dislo-
cations.
b) Grain-boundary strengthening: grain-boundary hin-
dering of dislocation movement. Grains can be
refined to a very small size, and a very high strength
may be achieved. Below a critical grain size the
toughness may be lowered.
c) Solid-solution strengthening: the resistance to dislo-
cation movement due to the presence of interstitial or
substitutional solute atoms in a crystal lattice. The
limitation of this mechanism is imposed by the
solubility limit in each alloying system.
d) Precipitation strengthening: the resistance to dislo-
cation movement due to the effect of second-phase
particles. Second-phase particles may be dispersoids
(stable particles mechanically added and sintered) or
precipitates (particles formed from a supersaturated
solid solution) which is more present in practice. The
limitation of this mechanism is governed by the
influence of the size and shape on toughness, not on
the strengthening.
e) Texture strengthening: the resistance to dislocation
movement due to the presence of a texture-preferred
orientation in the structure. This mechanism does not
seem to be as potent as other strengthening mecha-
nisms, while the development of texture is difficult in
steels with a dispersed second phase.
f) Phase-transformation strengthening: the resistance to
dislocation movement due to the presence of newly
formed phases introduced by a phase transformation
that starts simultaneously with a deformation. This
mechanism gives new opportunities and it may be
considered as the main research challenge in the
future.
From all six mechanisms, the dominant mechanism is
grain-boundary strengthening, because the influence on
the grain size can be accomplished by a modification of
Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 45 (2011) 4, 295–301

the chemical composition, production parameters and/or
routes.
2.1 Grain refinement
Grain refinement is an effect of micro-alloying on
steels because it simultaneously produces increased
strength and toughness, without affecting weldability and
ductility1 (Figure 2). The quantitative relationship bet-
ween yield strength and grain size in metals is known as
the Hall-Petch equation:11,12
s0 = st + k0 · d–1/2 (1)
where:
s0 – yield strength
st – yield strength of a single crystal
k – Hall-Petch factor (a constant, representing the
blocking effect of grain boundaries on the movement of
dislocations at the initial stage of the plastic defor-
mation)
d – grain size
Grain refinement can be achieved by three types of
precipitation:1
a) small particles that do not dissolve, and therefore pin
down austenite grain boundaries, during reheating
prior to hot working (usually TiN, sometimes
Nb(C,N));
b) particles that dissolve during reheating, but precipi-
tate in austenite during hot rolling and prevent
recrystallisation and/or grain growth (usually
Nb(C,N), sometimes VN);
c) particles that precipitate after rolling, during the
transformation of austenite to ferrite (usually V(C,N),
sometimes NbC or TiC).
2.2 Precipitation strengthening
The precipitation strengthening is produced by the
particles’ precipitation in ferrite. These particles hinder
dislocation movement under loading and increase the
Figure 2: Effect of ferrite grain size on properties1
Slika 2: Vpliv velikosti feritnih zrn na mehanske lastnosti1
Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 45 (2011) 4, 295–301
D. A. SKOBIR: HIGH-STRENGTH LOW-ALLOY (HSLA) STEELS
yield strength and tensile strength. The precipitates most
often used to strengthen ferrite are V(C,N), although
NbC and TiC particles can be used in low-carbon,
low-nitrogen steels. TiN is a less soluble micro-alloying
precipitate. TiN particles form at very high temperatures
and, if finely distributed, prevent austenite grain growth
at normal reheating temperatures. The content of the
micro-alloying elements carbon and nitrogen as well as
the thermomechanical processing determine whether
TiC, NbC, VN or other complex carbonitrides precipitate
in austenite or ferrite. The most soluble micro-alloying
precipitate is VC, which normally precipitates only in
ferrite.1,3,10
The relationship between the grain size (R), the
volume fraction (f) and size of precipitates (r) was first
proposed by Zener in his well-known equation:10
4r
R= (2)
3f
where:
R = radius of the matrix grains
r = radius of the precipitates (pinning particles)
f = volume fraction of the precipitates (pinning parti-
cles).
The Zener equation includes the major features of
grain-growth inhibition by second-phase particles. A
finer grain size can be stabilised by an increased volume
fraction of particles for a given particle size and finer
particles are capable of stabilising a finer grain size for a
given volume fraction of particles.3, 10
One further important phenomenon that can affect
the particle size is known as Ostwald ripening.2,3,10 It
relates to the increase in particle size that occurs at a
constant volume fraction of precipitate, and can result in
a significant loss of the particles’ performance. A defi-
nition of Ostwald ripening can be given as the selective
growth of some second-phase particles, usually the
larger particles, at the expense of other particles of the
same phase, usually the smaller particles, the latter
decreasing in size until they disappear completely. The
equation, presented by Lifshitz, Slyozov and Wagner,
describes the kinetics of particle coarsening with respect
to both temperature and time:10
8sD[ M ]V
rt3 − r03 = ⋅t (3)
9RT
where:
rt = particle radius at time t
r0 = particle radius at time 0
s = surface energy of the particle-matrix interface
D = diffusivity of relevant atom species
[M] = concentration (solubility) of relevant atom species
in the matrix
V = particle molar volume
R = gas constant
T = temperature
297
D. A. SKOBIR: HIGH-STRENGTH LOW-ALLOY (HSLA) STEELS
A most important feature of this equation is the
concentration of relevant atom species dissolved in the
matrix [M]. The growth of the pinning particles will be
minimised by a small [M] dissolved in the matrix.
Because of its thermodynamic stability and low solu-
bility at high temperature, TiN resists particle growth
and is thus a most effective grain-boundary-pinning
particle.
The concept of Ostwald ripening was originally
developed for the coarsening of solid particles in a liquid
matrix, but the mathematical solutions have been applied
successfully to second-phase particles in a solid matrix.
3 SOLUBILITY OF CARBIDES AND NITRIDES
With the aim to understand the influence of micro-
alloying elements on the mechanical properties and the
hot-working process it is necessary to know the
processes and reactions in steel involving these elements
and their compounds with nitrogen and carbon which
form precipitates. The reaction of a micro-alloying
element [M] with an interstitial [X], both dissolved in the
austenite, gives a compound [MX] at a temperature T:3
[M] + [X] ↔ (MX) (4)
ks= [M] [X] (5)
The definition of the solubility product is:
lg ks = A – B/T (6)
where A and B are constants for a given system and T is
the temperature in K.
Figure 3: Comparison of the solubility products of carbides and
nitrides3
Slika 3: Primerjava topnostnih produktov za karbide in nitride3
298
The solubility products of the micro-alloy carbides
and nitrides are compared in Figure 3. The general con-
clusions drawn from this data are:3
a) In austenite, nitrides are more stable than carbides.
Large differences are between vanadium carbide and
vanadium nitride and between titanium carbide and
titanium nitride, whilst the difference between nio-
bium carbide and niobium nitride is much less.
b) Many of the micro-alloy carbides and nitrides have
similar levels of solubility in austenite, with two
notable exceptions. Titanium nitride is markedly
more stable than other carbides and nitrides. On the
other hand, vanadium carbide is far more soluble than
other carbides and nitrides.
c) The solubilities of niobium carbide and niobium
nitride in ferrite suggest that the solubilities of these
compounds are about an order of magnitude less in
ferrite than the corresponding solubilities in austenite
at the same temperature.
The effects of a steel’s chemical composition and
thermomechanical processing on the solubility and
precipitation reactions of these precipitates are essential
for obtaining the properties that are the basis for the
successful application of micro-alloyed steels. Other-
wise, the benefit of micro-alloying could be lost, as
shown in following examples.
Figure 4: Form of eutectic niobium carbonitride particle in cast slab;
a) etched with nital; b) non-etched surface
Slika 4: Oblika evtekti~nega niobijevega karbonitrida v litem slabu; a)
jedkano z nitalom; b) nejedkana povr{ina
Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 45 (2011) 4, 295–301

Figure 5: SE image and X-ray maps of niobium carbonitride preci-
pitates bound to MnS
Slika 5: SEM-posnetek niza karbonitridnih vklju~kov, vezanega na
MnS, in prikaz povr{inske porazdelitve elementov
The examinations of the plates of micro-alloying
steel (Micral S690QL) showed lower ductility than was
prescribed. To investigate the reason for such low ducti-
lity, samples for optical and scanning electron micro-
scopy were taken from a cast slab. Figure 4 shows opti-
cal micrographs with niobium carbonitrides. Figure 5
shows a SE image and mapping micrographs of nio-
bium-containing particles (Nb,Ti)(C,N)13–17 bound on a
small manganese sulphide inclusion. The analysis of the
chemical composition of the carbonitride particles has
turned out to be very complicated. The problem arises
from the proper determination of the concentration of
nitrogen and titanium, also reported by other authors.18–20
The nitrogen concentration is, according to literature
sources,21–23 responsible for the thermodynamic stability
of carbonitride. A precise measurement of the nitrogen
concentration would enable a determination of the limit
nitrogen concentration in carbonitride, which conside-
rably decreases the ductility of the steel.
The solubility product for niobium carbonitride is
given by the equation:3
lg ks = –6770/T + 2.26 (7)
There are variations in the stoichiometry, some
authors consider niobium carbonitride given by the for-
mula NbC0.8, others as NbC or Nb(C,N).3
The next example of an inadequate precipitation of
micro-alloying elements is shown in Figure 6. In this
Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 45 (2011) 4, 295–301
D. A. SKOBIR: HIGH-STRENGTH LOW-ALLOY (HSLA) STEELS
Figure 6: Steel, micro-alloyed with a) titanium and b) zirconium with
large precipitates of these elements13
Slika 6: Jeklo, mikrolegirano s a) titanom in b) cirkonijem z velikimi
precipitati teh elementov13
case the micro-alloying elements titanium and zirconium
have been precipitated as large particles (up to 10 μm),
which are typically coloured after etching. The improved
mechanical properties can be obtained only by finely
distributed Nb, Ti or Zr precipitates on a nanometre scale
size; and therefore it is not surprising that in this case an
improvement of mechanical properties was not obtained.
4 STEEL PROCESSING
The desirable properties of HSLA steels are achieved
basically through ferrite grain refinement and by the
precipitation of micro-alloy carbonitride particles. For
economic production it is necessary to maximize these
effects with various types of thermomechanically con-
trolled processing (TMCP). The prevailing share of steel
products is manufactured by rolling. For micro-alloyed
steels two main types of rolling processes are used:3, 4, 24
a) Thermo-mechanical rolling or recrystallisation con-
trolled rolling (RCR) is used for steels with marten-
sitic and bainitic structures. This rolling consists of
rolling in the MX phases’ precipitation temperature
range, with pauses between the consecutive rolling
passes, enabling a complete austenite recrystalli-
sation as well as the isothermal holding of a properly
selected temperature of the end of the hot working by
time t0.5 – needed for the development of 50 % frac-
tion of recrystallised austenite and direct cooling with
299
D. A. SKOBIR: HIGH-STRENGTH LOW-ALLOY (HSLA) STEELS
Figure 7: Schematic diagram of the influence of accelerated cooling
on the microstructure of low-carbon micro-alloyed steel products
during controlled rolling4
Slika 7: Shematski prikaz vpliva pospe{enega ohlajanja na mikro-
strukturo malooglji~nih malolegiranih jekel med kontroliranim
valjanjem4
the appropriate cooling rate. Isothermal holding of
products at the temperature of the end of rolling for
the time t0.5 is necessary, as the high dislocation den-
sity in the plastically deformed austenite increases
the critical cooling rate. Products manufactured with
this method are subjected only to the appropriate
temperature tempering or ageing.
b) Conventional controlled rolling (CCR) is normally
used for steels with a ferrite and ferrite-pearlite
microstructure. This rolling consists of roughing the
feedstock in the upper part of the plastic working
temperature range and of finish rolling in the lower
part of the temperature range for this process, corres-
ponding to the precipitation of the MX phases,
limiting the grain growth of recrystallised austenite in
pauses between the consecutive passes. Finish rolling
usually ends at a temperature slightly lower than the
austenite recrystallisation temperature TR and a little
bit higher than Ar3 or Ar1 for the steel with sub-
sequent air cooling of the products (Figure 7). The
presence of slip bands and deformation bands in
non-recrystallised austenite causes an increase of the
population of locations convenient for nucleation in
the g®a transformation and leads to the development
of a more fine-grained structure of the steel products.
c) Two-phase rolling technology is a modification of the
CCR technology. The main difference is that finish
rolling is performed partially in the two-phase region.
After cooling, austenite grains will transform into
small ferrite grains, while deformed ferrite grains
will recrystallise and become finer. This technology
is normally used for the rolling of thin strips, due to
their high resistance to deformation.
300
d) Dynamic recrystallisation controlled rolling (DRCR)
is a modification of the CCR technology. The overall
strain in finish rolling is higher than in CCR and the
accumulation of deformation from pass to pass
should lead to exceeding the critical strain for dyna-
mic recrystallisation. In this case the effect of grain
refinement is the strongest. This technology is not yet
commercialized, due to the lack of reliable data.
e) Conventional controlled rolling + accelerated cooling
(CCR+AC) with accelerated cooling after the CCR or
two-phase region rolling up to Ar1 temperature that
provides a certain amount of ferrite transformation,
enriching the rest of the matrix with carbon and
lowers the austenite transformation temperature.
With further cooling the austenite transforms to
bainite and/or martensite. This technology provides a
two-phase microstructure consisting of very fine
ferrite grains and bainite and/or martensite.
5 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
There are three major property requirements for
HSLA steels: a high yield strength, a low impact tran-
sition temperature and good weldability.2 The high yield
strength and low impact transition temperature are
achieved through ferrite grain refinement, where nitro-
gen is partially useful. However, nitrogen dissolved in
ferrite also influences the strength and toughness. This
solid solution strengthening is very small, especially as
the solid solubility of nitrogen in ferrite is very limited,
but the embrittlement propensity may be increased, also.
Thus nitrogen dissolved in ferrite must be minimised,
which is done in micro-alloyed steels with additions of
Al, V, Nb or Ti, all of which form stable nitrides. These
nitrides have the ability to refine austenite grains and
thereby ferrite grains, also.2
6 CONCLUSIONS
The paper gives a short review on the development
and basic characteristics of micro-alloyed steels. The
general conclusions are that in modern, control-rolled,
micro-alloyed steels at least three strengthening mecha-
nisms contribute to the final achieved strength. The
relative contribution of each is determined by the steel’s
composition as well as by the steel’s thermomechanical
treatment. The effect of the finishing temperature for the
rolling is important in determining the grain size and,
therefore, the strength level reached for a particular steel.
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